CCD cameras are commercially available and are in use for medical, scientific and industrial applications. Such a camera employs a camera head which houses the CCD in a hermetically sealed and cooled chamber. The camera body comprises an electronic controller which operates the CCD for capturing images electronically for storage or for video display or both.
On occasion, the CCD imagers become defective or in some way are unable to operate over the specified range of design parameters. In such cases, it is necessary to return the camera head and controller to the manufacturer to replace the CCD imager and to reprogram the controller to operate with the replacement CCD imager. The replacement operation not only is costly but also is time consuming and disruptive for the user.